


lined in fear, step by step

by kuro49



Series: thirty days of writing '18 [17]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, DCU
Genre: Drabble, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-29
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-09-02 02:08:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16777519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuro49/pseuds/kuro49
Summary: Alfred is a good, kind man and it shows in his actions when he doesn’t laugh in Master Bruce’s face as he proposesBatmanto him.





	lined in fear, step by step

**Author's Note:**

> prompt: A transformation before your very eyes, in which a friend who isn't into dc asked for alfred and bruce except magical girl!au, this is not really that but well, here it is.

Alfred is a good, kind man and it shows in his actions when he doesn’t laugh in Master Bruce’s face as the man proposes _Batman_ to him.

There are quite a few things to unpack here, but first and foremost, Alfred thinks he wants to point the man right back to the drawing board when he shows him the pointed ears and the cape to bury all capes under. Instead, he tries for entertaining what can only be a bad idea when a good night ends in a few scrapes and some deep tissue bruising. 

“Is there a plan B?”

“You aren't convinced?” Bruce asks him, and there is an implicit trust here that makes Alfred subtly rub at his temple when Bruce turns back to his sketches and blueprints of what has to be a bat _car_.

“I am simply in doubt of a great deal of things, Master Bruce.”

Alfred tells him but he is also going for his cuff links, rolling back the sleeves of his shirt to settle in at the work table right next to Bruce, pointing out the necessity of a utility belt unless the Batman is planning on carrying a satchel with him on his nightly exploits, jumping from roof to roof like Father Christmas in the worst part of town. 

Every hero has their origin story, Bruce Wayne’s got most of that figured out.

Alfred doesn’t want to be the one to say it but he imagines there is not much option for him aside from playing sidekick or fairy godmother when it comes down to it.

“Do you think I'm naive?” 

It is a fair question when the man’s answer to the injustice of the world is to go out and punch it in the face in a few simple words. Alfred settles with answering with a question of his own.

“If I say yes to that, is there any chance I can stop you from going out in _this_ , Master Bruce?” 

He sees the man he knows like the back of his hand even pass the cowl and the cape that bellows if there is a breeze that can get into this subbasement.

But here is the difference, Batman is built on fear. 

Intimidation of the unjust into something that can be curbed. Crime cannot be stopped, not in any meaningful way but it can be controlled, Batman can be a deterrent in a new world where senseless violence doesn’t have to be accepted.

“Hope is a good thing.” Alfred tells him, and he doesn’t want to sound like a broken record here but it bears repeating. 

“Maybe I can become a symbol of that one day.”

Because here is a transformation before his very eyes, and well, if Batman is a magical girl, then his magic might as well be an exorbitant amount of wealth.


End file.
